I
am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As
for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not
need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not
counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him. 1 John 2:26-27 NIV
Some of you know that I used to be quite the political and
news junky. I have been on a television news and
political fast since November. I mostly
read my news now from alternative sources than the main-stream media. We cut
off our cable television and don’t bother with watching most of the news-
except the weather (I am still a weather
junkie, haha).
I found I was being badly influenced by the things being
reported in the news and was spending far too much time embroiled in worldly
things over which I have no control. My
thinking was being affected; in other words, my heart was being affected by the
news I watched.
Conservative thinkers- biblical
thinkers cannot help but see the moral slide we are now on as a
nation. In the past several days I have
read stories about heinous abortionists laughing about the size of the living
infants as they murdered them. I have read that certain states may soon require
insurance companies to pay for abortions. I have seen reports of CEO’s of
corporations telling us- you and I conservative Christians- he doesn’t want us
purchasing stock in his gazillion dollar company if we do not agree with
marriage for anyone to anything. What on
earth is going on here?!
As Christians – how should you and I look at culture? Who
and what should be shaping our
thinking? The Gospel! God’s Word! The Gospel-Truth that you and I are
insufficient in and of ourselves. That our lives are stained by sin. That we
are damned to hell, apart from a sinless Savior. We’re talking about the
Person, thoughts, and words of the Divine. “In the beginning was the Word – and
the Word was with God and the Word was God!” – John 1:1.
The Gospel isn’t a formula – it is the work of the God-man,
Who suffered for our sins, Who paid the price to remove the consequences of our
sin from us. The Bible is the absolute, primary influence that should be
affecting our thinking because it is the very thoughts and words of our Savior.
It is the standard by which we should examine and conclude what is true. It is
the measure we should use to assess whether or not what culture tells us is in
fact correct, or full of grievous, grievous error.
The Bible – the GOSPEL, is inspired Truth. And it is the
Bible that should tell us how we examine culture, as it is culture that is
informing us how we are to look at the issues of our world. It is God’s Word that should filter our
thinking about how the world and its cultural
There really is a THEY and a WE. They are the world. They
are post-modern, post-church, post-legalistic influence. They are hipster,
rebellious, and anti-authority. They are subjective or relative in their
thinking, and live in a world where ones actions are dictated by how they FEEL.
They want excuses for their behavior; labels to misrepresent the real problems,
and everything handed to them on a silver-spoon, by our government, employers,
or selected cultural task-masters. They want influence and freedom, with no
accountability.
But WE…WE are the people of God. We HAVE an absolute
authority, with convictions that are founded in a Power that is greater than
ourselves. We abide in a Truth that touts our insufficiency and boasts in the
Glory of Divine Intervention, Help, and Guidance. We call what the world labels
as something else what it really is: sin.
Parts of this post have been adapted from The Theology of Addiction by Stephen Ganschow. Thanks for allowing me to use it, son.